At Your Fingertips: Three Options for Accessing Your Health Records
http://www.csa.us/email/spirit/ssarticles/1212MedNews.html
By Mary Romelfanger
In today’s digital world, we do things online that few of us ever imagined five years ago: banking, engaging in social networking activities, even using video technology for real-time communication across geographic distances.
The healthcare industry, too, is transitioning to this brave new world of communication technology. Driven by a host of factors, from improving quality of care opportunities to complying with Affordable Care Act provisions designed to improve patient-provider communications, a primary focus of this sea change is the open exchange of personal health records (PHRs). (See “No More Questions: Medical Health Records Enter the Digital Age” in the October issue of Senior Spirit.)
The goal of online PHR access is for consumers to have immediate access to their own records: the documented information source that their healthcare providers and insurers use when making healthcare decisions, such as treatments, prescriptions and referrals. Before now, every consumer had personal health information stored in a minimum of two places: the space at home where you keep paper or computer records, the other at the provider’s office.
The two different records, of course, may or may not contain the same information, but neither the consumer or provider would be aware of that because the other documentation was irretrievable. The potential consequences of making decisions based on outdated, incorrect information are legion. Conversely, correct and current patient data, instantly retrievable by both consumers and providers, is a gold standard in the first step of healthcare planning.
The creation of secure systems for information exchange models faces several hurdles, not the least of which is development of a standardized framework for user-friendly access and online information updates. However, progress is already being made on achieving a consensus on this issue.
Available Record Tools
Early adopters of PHR technology developed consumer engagement tools, which aim to allow patients to share information with their care providers and manage their health between provider visits. In 2009, the Mayo Clinic gave patients the opportunity to cross the digital divide—to use their personal computers to create, update and download their own PHRs. The U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid made the same option available for Medicare recipients in October of 2010.
These systems created portals to the world of healthcare “informatics,” the science of processing health data for storage and retrieval. PHRs are becoming a patient-centered system for sharing crucial, personal health information with healthcare providers and facilities of the patient’s choice. This article will briefly explore how to access each of these systems.
Mayo Clinic Model
The Mayo Clinic model offers one secure spot for storing (and immediately retrieving) the multiple forms and pieces of paper that hold bits and pieces of your health information. The tool provides a place for creating and maintaining your PHR so it is accessible anytime via a web-enabled device such as your computer, phone or tablet.
VA “Blue Button” Model
The “Blue Button®” option allows veterans to download their personal health information from their My HealtheVet online account, which contains their VA healthcare records, including all providers and prescriptions. Blue Button is a collaborative effort with the Department of Defense, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Markle Foundation’s Consumer Engagement Workgroup. (The term “blue button” refers to the icon for selecting this option on the My HealtheVet web page.) On the HealtheVet site, veterans can enter their personal health indicators (blood pressure, weight, heart rate), emergency contact information, test results, family health history, military health history and other health-related information. Users who receive VA healthcare services can also refill prescriptions and view appointments, allergies and laboratory results online.
Veterans can download their Blue Button information into a simple text file or PDF document that can be read, printed or saved on any computer. The feature gives veterans complete control of this information—without any special software—and enables them to share this data with their healthcare providers, caregivers or people they trust.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Model
MyMedicare.gov’s Blue Button system provides a simple way to download and save your personal health information. You can then import this file into other computer-based personal health management tools. Blue Button is safe, secure, reliable and easy to use.
To download and save your health information:
- Select the Blue Button icon from the MyMedicare.gov site to create a downloadable file with your information.
- Save the Microsoft Excel data file to your computer.
- Upload or import this Excel file into a PHR application that can accept it.
Other PHR Options
- Providers, health plans and private companies offer PHRs, some for free.
- Health insurance companies are rapidly embracing the concept of creating PHR programs because they serve as a patient-driven tool for self-awareness and trending of one’s personal health status. Aetna insurance has adopted this technology, and United Healthcare recently made it available for 20 million subscribers.
- Some independent companies create and maintain PHRs for you. If you give them permission, they may be able to get your health information from your doctor or health plan.
- If your doctor or health plan doesn’t offer a PHR, check what’s available from myPHR.com.
The world of patient-provider health information exchange is in its infancy but growing rapidly. Stay tuned for the rest of the journey.
Sources
Health Care Informatics: www.healthcareinformatics.com.
Healthcare IT News: www.healthcareitnews.com.
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (2006). “Personal Health Records and Personal Health.” http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov.
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. “Records Systems: A Report and Recommendations.” www.ncvhs.hhs.gov.
National eHealth Collaborative. “The Patient Engagement Framework.” www.clinical-innovation.com/topics/practice-management/nehc-patient-engagement-framework-takes-incremental-approach, 2012.
Web MD: www.webmd.com/phr
Mary Romelfanger, RN, MSN, CS (Gerontology), LNHA, is a clinical specialist with more than 30 years of experience working with the older adult population and health care systems throughout the United States and Canada.